New Chief Operating Officer

12.03.2013 - Zealand Pharma has appointed Agneta Svedberg as successor to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

John Hyttel, who is retiring after 14 years with the company, The Master of Business Administration joins the Danish firm from Cantargia AB, a Swedish biotech company, where she has held a position as Chief Executive Officer. Agneta Svedberg brings in more than 20 years of experience in drug development from different leadership functions in both biotech and big pharma companies, including more than ten years with Genmab A/S in Copenhagen, where she was Global Head of Clinical Development and held various senior management positions. Prior to that, she was Head of Clinical Development (Europe) at Oxigene Europe AB and held managerial positions at Pharmacia & Upjohn AB in Sweden. Agneta Svedberg holds a M.Sc. in Radiation Physics from Lund University.

04.12.2013 The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has appointed Dr. Petra Wilson as its new CEO. She joins IDF from Cisco, where she was Senior Director of its European Health and Care Business Solutions team.

Wilson has previously held posts as Director of the European Health Management Association and as a science officer for the European Commission. She is also a former senior lecturer in law at the University of Nottingham, where she taught in both the law and medical schools. Wilson is British born and lives in Brussels. She will continue her roles as Honorary Reader at the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at University College London, and as a Non-Executive Director of the Digital Health Institute in Scottland.

06.12.2013 French biotech TxCell SA appointed Damian Marron as Chief Executive Officer at the beginning of November to push the development of its Phase II antigen specific Treg cell immuno­therapy Ovasave.

The new CEO, who brings in extensive experience in licensing deals, comes from Cytheris SA, a specialist for IL-7-based immunotherapies. From 2008-2012 Marron served as CEO of Trophos SA. Prior to that he was Executive Vice President Corporate Development at NicOx SA. In the past, he has held business development and operational roles at 3M Pharmaceuticals, Orphan Europe, Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer and GlaxoSmithKline. In addition, François Meyer, previously CEO and Chairman of the Board of TxCell has been appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

10.12.2013 Novasep SA has named Nadege Laborde President of its Industrial Bio­tech Business Unit.

The new member of the executive committee is expected to expand Novasep’s market reach into new geo­graphical territories. Laborde joined Novasep in 2000 after qualifying as an engineer from the École Centrale (Paris). Starting as a project manager, she rapidly expanded her responsibilities, quickly taking on roles as engineering manager in the US and Asia, and later becoming head of the system engineering and construction department.

12.12.2013 Jacqueline Lecourtier has joined industrial biotech specialist Deinove S.A. (Paris) as the new President of the firm's Scientific Advisory Board.

Lecourtier comes in from the French National Research Agency, where she was General Manager from 2006-2012. Prior to that, she was Scientific Director at the French Institute of Petroleum (IFP). Lecourtier is an engineer from the École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, and she also holds a doctorate in physics. At the beginning of her career Lecourtier was a researcher at the CNRS (Conseil national de la recherche scientifique – French National Research Council), and received international recognition for many research projects that she conducted and directed.

19.12.2013 EuropaBio’s Secretary General Nathalie Moll has been given the ”2013 Women Innovation” prize at the Women & Technologies conference in Milan.

She got the award for raising awareness about the role of bio­technology in increasing sustainability for future generations.The biochemist, who has been with EuropaBio for over 10 years, has also worked in the biotech and food policy area for the European Crop Protection Association, as well as for the Italian national biotech association Assobiotec. The Technovisionaries award publicly recognises women who have demonstrated an ability to combine creativity and innovation in order to improve quality of life, in particular in the area of food and nutrition. "Women have shown an increased commitment in using new technologies while also making progress in developing technology and promoting innovation", declared Gianna Martinengo, founder and chairwoman of the conference.

16.12.2013 Désiré Collen, founder of ThromboGenics, was given the Scrip Lifetime Achievement Award at the end of November in London for his outstanding contributions to the pharmaceutical/biotech industry.

Collen played a key role in the development of both tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, and ocriplasmin for the treatment of symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion/vitreomacular traction. A treatment for acute myocardial infarctions, tPA was a key product in Genentech’s success in the late 1980s and 1990s. Ocriplasmin, a proteolytic enzyme indicated for the treatment of symptomatic vitreo­macular adhesion, was launched in 2013 under the trade name Jetrea, and licensed by Alcon in March 2012 in a a375m deal. Collen has co-authored more than 650 scientific publications, and is listed as co-inventor on 20 patents and patent applications.

07.11.2013 Christian Meyer has joined gene therapy specialist uniQure as Chief Medical Officer. The new CMO has 18 years of clinical research experience and expertise in the rare diseases acute intermittent porphyria and lysosomal storage disorders, which are targeted by the Dutch company.

Meyer joins uniQure from Cardoz AB, where he spent three years as CMO. Previously, he was VP Clinical Development at Symphogen A/S, and had prior stints at Zymenex A/S and Novo Nordisk A/S.

12.11.2013 Epigenetics expert Tony Kouzarides from the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge (UK) has been awarded the 2013 Heinrich Wieland Prize.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation, which sponsors the Euro 50,000 award, said his research on cancer has given hope for new drugs against leukaemia. Kouzarides is a pioneer in the field of histone-modifying enzymes and their mode of action and impact on cancer development. He also identified the small molecule inhibitor I-BET. In addition to his academic career, Kouzarides founded drug-discovery company Chroma Therapeutics and antibody reagent firm Abcam plc.

14.11.2013 Swedish NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (Lund) has named Catharina Johansson as its new CFO.

The former interim CFO of Cellavision will follow Christian Svensson, who is opening his own consulting practice. Prior to Cellavision, Johansson was Head of Accounting at Bong and Alfa Laval Europe. She holds a degree in Business and Economics. Former CFO Svensson says he will continue to serve the company on a consulting basis until Johansson takes up her new post on 1 December.

18.11.2013 Miguel Sieler, former Chairman and CEO of Bayer France, has been named CEO of Neovacs. Sieler, who follows Guy-Charles Fanneau De La Horie, says he will pursue the development of the Paris-based therapeutic vaccine specialist.

After joining Bayer in 1975 in Germany and serving in various senior management positions in Brussels and Sao Paulo, Sieler was President of Bayer in Korea. He followed that with four years at the helm of Bayer Pharma France.

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